The Siege of Seattle: When Martial Law Came to the Waterfront
As anti-Chinese riots gripped Seattle in February 1886, Governor Watson Squire declared martial law, bringing in federal troops to suppress the violence and restore order at the docks.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As time rolls on, the excitement of the attempted forcible expulsion of Chinese, the resistance of the home guards and military companies, and the ultimate shooting of a number of men who attempted to forcibly wrest from the officers of the law their arms, grows less feverish. The establishment of martial law has tended in a great measure to allay the excitement. The saloons being closed has presented a new phase of the situation. Men sober up and realize that after all it is the better plan to obey the laws and be good citizens. Nightly, the streets were patrolled, and peace and quiet reigned supreme. A feeling of relief pervaded the whole community yesterday morning when it was learned that the President had issued a proclamation and that troops had been ordered to Seattle immediately.
When the steamer Howard rounded Alki Point, the Home Guards and Seattle Rifles left the Courthouse for the City Dock. A mob had congregated on the wharf, which was cleared away by the soldiers who made a bayonet charge. Lines of armed men were placed across the entrance to the wharf, and kept back the crowd. The command consisted of eight companies of the Fourteenth Infantry, under Lieutenant Colonel De Russy, numbering 300 men, all told. The soldiers marched to their quarters at the Pacific House and the Hanford Theater. Immediately on the arrival of the troops, notice was posted on public places: 'The President of the United States has issued a proclamation commanding all disturbers of the peace in the city of Seattle to disperse. All true and loyal Americans will array themselves on the side of law and order.'
“Never in Washington had there been a severer trial of patriotic spirit than that which had racked Seattle into factions, had spilled blood in her streets and had now invoked the strong arm of national power to maintain peace and order.”
The 1886 anti-Chinese riots remain a dark chapter in Seattle's history, reflecting the intense xenophobia and economic anxieties that defined the era. Today, the tension between civil unrest and state-sanctioned policing remains a recurring theme in the city's civic life, though the specific targets and societal reactions have shifted.
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